The Texas A&M volleyball team will continue their road swing this weekend with a tournament at Pepperdine University’s Firestone Fieldhouse Sept. 6-7.
The Aggies (1-1) will begin the tournament facing California Baptist at 6 p.m. on Friday. A&M will then have a double-header Saturday, against Fairfield at 1 p.m. and then Pepperdine at 8 p.m.
The Aggies will face California Baptist and Fairfield for the first time in school history, and A&M will face Pepperdine for the ninth time. Pepperdine holds a record of 5-3 against A&M, but the Aggies defeated the Waves in 2018 at the Texas A&M Invitational in College Station.
California Baptist has a record of 0-3 after falling to Eastern Washington, Idaho and Illinois at the Idaho Volleyball Classic. The Lancers have been led so far by Christine Graf and Sydney Marks, averaging 2.75 kills per set.
Fairfield holds a winning record of 2-1 with close wins over Lafayette and University of Maryland-Baltimore County. The Stags were second in the 2019 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches’ Poll with four first-place votes. Luci Albertson and Mayda Garcia both secured spots on the Preseason All-MAAC team.
Pepperdine has a losing record of 1-2, but recently topped Illinois State 3-1. Pepperdine had four players named to the All-West Coast Conference Preseason Team. The four players include Rachel Ahrens, Hannah Frohling, Shannon Scully and Tarah Wylie. Last weekend, Ahrens recorded 5.44 kills per set with 49 total kills, and Scully averaged 4.00 kills per set.
The Aggies had an exciting opening weekend facing Dayton and No. 25 Louisville. A&M secured a 3-2 win over Dayton, but fell short against Louisville 3-2.
A&M senior outside hitter Hollann Hans had 27 kills and six service aces throughout the weekend. Hans is only seven kills shy of passing Jazzmin Babers (2013-16) for the most career kills during the 25-point rally scoring era.
A&M junior Camille Conner landed a spot on the Cardinal Classic All-Tournament Team after finishing the weekend with 70 assists, 11 digs, 20 kills and a .390 hitting percentage.
A&M freshmen Lauren Davis and Karly Basham were instrumental during opening weekend. Davis had a hitting percentage of .302, averaging 1.90 kills per set with five blocks. Basham recorded one service ace, 16 digs and seven assists.